‘Knowing is not enough; doing has to come into it too. We’ve got to go out in the world and debate.’… Read the rest
Poll: Anger at Protests, Gloom About Future
Feb 13th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson56% to 29% said it was right to publish the cartoons in Denmark and republish them elsewhere.… Read the rest
That’s not Respect, it’s Fear
Feb 13th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnd it’s a tendentious mistake to conflate respect for one’s religion with respect for oneself.… Read the rest
The Judgment of Solomon
Feb 12th, 2006 4:50 pm | By Ophelia BensonRhetoric is simply inexhaustibly interesting. One never does come to the end of it. One thing that’s interesting about it is how easily it can slip past us. I’ve just noticed a bit that slipped past me the other day, when the publishers explained why they had sent a copy to one author but not the other, the other being your humble. They only had two advance copies, you see, and had to keep one in the office, but my copies were ordered from the warehouse on the same day that Jeremy’s was sent out. There it is – I didn’t catch that. It’s interesting. They had one advance copy to send out – and that was Jeremy’s. It belonged … Read the rest
Rescuers Part 3
Feb 12th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFriendship and moral commitments interact; but then friendship is a moral commitment.… Read the rest
Another Extract from Norm Geras on Rescuers
Feb 12th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf you fail to help ‘an innocent fugitive, you have no place in the community of the just’.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on Striking Bus Drivers in Tehran
Feb 12th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe Muslims of Tehran are not a monolithic bloc happy to follow the orders of the ayatollahs.… Read the rest
Indonesia Calls Danish Diplomatic Pullout ‘Hasty’
Feb 12th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhy would diplomats want to leave merely because of threats?… Read the rest
Happy Darwin Day
Feb 12th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHere’s an assortment of celebrations.… Read the rest
A Tonic
Feb 11th, 2006 6:23 pm | By Ophelia BensonFor a restorative, there is this from Delaware.
In the end, the cartoon battle is not about respect or disrespect. The fundamental conflict behind the rioting is over the idea of blasphemy. That requires belief. But you cannot blaspheme what you don’t believe in. Islamists demand that laws punish blasphemers. That cannot be done in secular societies. How can a society be free if the law requires you to believe?
And there is Ayaan, peace, freedom and secularism be upon her.
… Read the restAyaan Hirsi Ali said it was “correct to publish the cartoons” in Jyllands Posten and “right to republish them”…Ms Hirsi Ali, speaking in Berlin, said that “today the open society is challenged by Islamism”. She added: “Within
More Wisdom
Feb 11th, 2006 6:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere’s also Anas Altikriti, a former president of the Muslim Association of Britain.
France, which stood against war in Iraq, scuppered its good relations with the Muslim world when its secular fanatics insisted on banning the hijab in state schools. These cartoons come at the end of a long line of events in which there has been a striking absence of representation of the Muslim perspective and of our rights and freedoms.
Secular fanatics is it. And ‘the Muslim perspective’ on the hijab – but a lot of Muslims, especially women, were in favour of the ban. What about their perspective?
… Read the restReligion no more restricts freedom of speech than secularism promotes it. Is it so difficult to digest that
We Demand
Feb 11th, 2006 6:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonAlso sorry I missed that inspiring demo.
Several thousand Muslims turned out today to demonstrate against the controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad – but the numbers were far lower than the 30,000 the organisers hoped would take part. They gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square holding banners proclaiming: “United Against Incitement And Islamophobia.”
Good about the numbers. Bad about the moral blackmail.
… Read the restA series of speakers gathered to offer their support to the Muslim community but also to voice their opposition to the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Jeremy Corbyn MP, a long-term protester against the war in Iraq, said: “The only way our community can survive is by showing mutual respect to each other. We demand that people show
The Whole World Belongs to Allah
Feb 11th, 2006 6:01 pm | By Ophelia BensonGee, I’m sorry I missed that show.
On Monday, the BBC program Newsnight gathered several Muslims, among them Anjem Choudary, who had organized that demonstration…He verbally abused the other speakers, denouncing one highly intelligent and personable woman, a Conservative candidate at the last election, as an unbeliever because her head was uncovered, and a man because he was clean-shaven. No, of course England didn’t belong to the English, Choudary insisted, or to any human inhabitants, “It belongs to Allah, the whole world belongs to Allah.” He prayed for “the domination of Islam” (“hopefully peacefully”) and looked forward to the day when “the black flag of Islam will be flying over Downing Street.”
Yeah. Can’t wait. Can’t wait to live in … Read the rest
Non Sequitur Meets Category Mistake
Feb 11th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We support free speech’ – you always know what the next conjunction will be.… Read the rest
Alastair Campbell on Words and Blurbs
Feb 11th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘He’d be better off with “Crap from start to finish – Alastair Campbell.”‘… Read the rest
French Council of Muslim Faith Decides to Sue
Feb 11th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn what grounds, one wonders.… Read the rest
Ayaan Hirsi Ali Affirms Secularism
Feb 11th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Today the open society is challenged by Islamism.’… Read the rest
Demonstrators Protest Secularism
Feb 11th, 2006 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘We demand that people show respect for each other’s community, each other’s faith and each other’s religion.’… Read the rest
Silent but not Deadly
Feb 11th, 2006 | By Thomas R DeGregoriSilent but deadly is a phrase most often used to describe the effects of a quiet crepitation that is extremely potent in its olfactory impact. It could as well refer to the phobias of many concerning the deadly forces of modern life. These are the forces of modern life that allegedly pervade our environment and threaten our very existence. Vying for the top of the list are those all-pervasive chemical carcinogens that allegedly saturate our food and every other aspect of our environment. Competing
for phobic primacy is all that deadly radiation emanating from nuclear power plants. When old phobias begin to lose some of their power to frighten, there are people skilled at heightening our sensitivities to newly emerging … Read the rest
Freedom of speech is not for sale
Feb 11th, 2006 | By Mina AhadiThe images of terrifying and agitated mobs attacking centres and embassies, burning them down and threatening people to murder and decapitations are the cruel face of political Islam.
Obviously governments of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other reactionary states together with Hamas and Islamic terrorist gangs are behind these demonstrations, which are all to familiar to us. They have no way other than killing, slaughtering, stoning to death and destroying to gain a share of power or to remain in power.
Wherever they are in the power, they eliminate anyone who thinks differently and won’t submit to their reactionary and inhumane sacred beliefs and wherever they are not, they intimidate in order to score points.
This time round, the publication … Read the rest